The Belleville City Council voted unanimously to earmark $40,470 of the 2012 federal Community Development Block Grant funds to pay for 800 MHz radios needed by the police and fire departments.
The vote on use of the CDBG funds was taken after a public hearing at the Feb. 21 council meeting.
Van Buren Township, which dispatches the city’s police and fire departments, is in the process of installing and programming 800 MHz radio equipment, which has been delivered. VBT plans to have its new radio system in place by early spring.
Belleville had to figure out how to get 800 MHz radios that could communicate with VBT and it will try to use the CDBG funds. If that is rejected by CDBG authorities, the city will come up with another plan.
Belleville currently has some portable radios from Homeland Security that can be reprogrammed, said Police Chief Gene Taylor.
The total CDBG funds for Belleville in 2012 are estimated at $57,000. With the $40,470 taken out of the Barrier Free Improvements allocation and put into radios, that leaves $9,830 for Senior / Disabled Services, $1,000 for Senior Chore Services, and $5,700 for Strategic Planning.
At the public hearing, sisters Dr. Kelly Johnson and Dr. Andrea Connors asked for $40,000 from CDBG to help them bring a building up to code so they could open a clinic for low-income people.
Dr. Johnson is a clinical psychologist and Dr. Connor a nurse practitioner. The clinic would be for the mentally and physically challenged in the community.
The green building, formerly owned by the late Chesley Odom, is at 665 E. Huron River Drive, across from Marti’s Gift Shop. Dr. Johnson said it had been on the demolition list and was a shell that needed to be rehabilitated.
She said she is buying the building and has a closing pending, with a signed purchased agreement. She said it will take an estimated $91,000 to bring the building up to code and so the $40,000 would be very welcome.
“We’re not looking to get rich. We’re looking to help people,” said Dr. Connors, who currently shares a building at 355 Main Street for her practice.
Mayor Kerreen Conley said the council thinks there is latitude to use the CDBG funds for the radios, since most of the fire department runs are to the senior high rise and they can hit the “low to moderate income” restriction.
She said in the event the CDBG officials do not accept this use, “We can reprogram the dollars.”
“I think it’s great to be creative,” said Councilwoman Kim Tindall, noting it blows her mind that Van Buren Township is using CDBG funds for ball fields, used by everyone.
She was told CDBG is for a low-income census tract.
Mayor Conley said the CDBG “could tell us no – or could tell us yes.”
Later in the meeting, Tindall said to the two women, “Ladies, your plan is admirable. Don’t take this as a shoot-down of your project. It’s a wonderful idea. But we are in dire conditions. If our police and fire can’t communicate with dispatch, we’ll really be in trouble.”
Mayor Conley suggested they apply directly to Wayne County and maybe the county can help.
“If it’s turned down, we can reprogram to whatever we want,” said Councilman Brian Blackburn. “We should seriously consider their program if it comes back.”
In other business at the Feb. 21 meeting, the council:
• Opened sealed bids for the 1997 GMC station wagon, with James Schmenk bidding $261 and Adam Barton bidding $550. There were no bids for the 1996 Chevrolet Corsica, which has been advertised twice. Bids on the forfeiture vehicles were turned over to the administration for follow-up;
• Approved the mayor’s reappointment of Deborah Acho to the Parks and Recreation Commission with a term to expire Dec. 31, 2015;
• Approved a zoning ordinance amendment that revises regulations for recreational vehicle and trailer storage in residential districts;
• Officially passed a resolution accepting the resignation of Fire Chief Lee Grant and appointing Brian Loranger as interim fire chief;
• Approved accounts payable of $152,412.72 and the following departmental purchases in excess of $500: $1,000 to Absolute Bird Control for goose repellant (the geese are already back to Horizon Park and this allows for three applications of the grape seed spray that worked last year); $1,993.75 to Oakland County Treasurer for CLEMIS; $1,107 to Stan’s Alignment for vehicle maintenance out of the Drug Enforcement line item; and $803.98 to Wise Technologies for equipment/software for general/PD;
• Discussed a billing dispute with RICOH for phone support that City Manager Diana Kollmeyer is pursuing;
• Learned that all the utilities are cut off to the house at 215 Second Street and by the end of the following week, Kollmeyer expected Blue Ribbon to complete demolition. The court has ordered the tearing down of the house and the cash bond put in place by the owner will be used to pay for the demolition, utility cut off fees, and attorney fees;
• Heard Mayor Pro Tem Jack Loria announce that the Chamber of Commerce will be holding a Road Rally at 1 p.m. on March 31. Participants will stop at get clues at member of the Chamber. Chief Taylor asked to be informed of the destinations, “so our police officers don’t get overly excited”;
• Heard Mayor Conley thank the library board for attending, saying, the city wants to be partners with the library in making “this thing happen”;
• Heard resident Vera Howell say she is happy the council asked for additional information from the library board. She said, “Those of us who attend the library board meetings come out with the same information we came in with – nothing.” She said the residents need more support at library board meetings. Howell said she would like to see members of the DDA and council attend some of the meetings. “We have to have more information to know what we’re going to vote for”; and
• Voted to go into executive session to discuss the status and strategy of pending union negotiations.